Paul the Pack Rat

Helping Children Learn to Share

by Vickie J. Belmore with Corey Hoover, M.Ed.
illustrated by Paul Ciaravino

Paul the Pack Rat most certainly lives up to his notorious name. He has more stuff than anyone he knows. From beach towels to buckets to radios to alarm clocks to board games to crayons to boxes and boxes of colored paper. Paul has got it all, but he refuses to share one stitch of it.

Even when his animal friends invite him to a picnic and a beautiful day of playing in the sun, Paul refuses to join in the fun, for he is too busy taking inventory on his vast collection of things to be bothered with such enjoyable social events. Nor will he let his bunny friends borrow just one of his many frisbees or balls to use during the picnic. Not even a tiny piece of chalk to draw up a hopscotch path will Paul let out of his sight.

But when Paul’s house gets flooded and his neighbors come to his rescue, this uplifting story teaches children about the value of friends, charity and not to emphasize material possessions.

Vickie J. Belmore has enjoyed a long career in home day care, where she told stories she created to the children for whom she cared. A mother of two daughters and grandmother of four, she lives in Bakersfield, California with her husband, Rusty.

Corey Hoover, M.Ed. is a third grade elementary school teacher in Wasco, California. He has a master’s degree in education from Cal. State Bakersfield. He lives with his wife and two children in Bakersfield, California.

Paul Ciaravino is an illustrator living in Brooklyn, New York with a BA in Fine Arts from the NY School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

A Small Horizons "Let's Talk" Release
Fiction/Children's Self-help
7 x 8, 48 pages, 26 Color Illustrations
LC #2008921809, world rights
ISBN 13: 978-0-88282-307-2
ISBN 10: 0-88282-307-8 (pb), $8.95